Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Update on Outsiders Voting in Ohio:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_10_19-2008_10_25.shtml#1224768386
Yesterday the [1]Columbus Dispatch reported on voter registrations by
campaign workers and others (like the Vote from Home folks) who did
not live in Ohio, and how election officials are responding.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien is telling the presidential
campaigns in Ohio that if their out-of-state staff members are just
passing through for the Nov. 4 election with no plans to remain,
they shouldn't vote in the state, either.
O'Brien has spoken to attorneys for both campaigns and asked
election officials to review the residency status of John McCain's
and Barack Obama's staff members, as well as those of other
get-out-the-vote groups, who have few Ohio ties but registered and
requested absentee ballots.
"One thing that is crystal-clear is the law -- if you are a
temporary resident or a visitor, you are not entitled to register
to vote and you're not entitled to vote," O'Brien, a Republican,
told The Dispatch yesterday. . . .
O'Brien's comments about campaign staffers' residency came after a
liberal group filed an election complaint alleging that members of
McCain's campaign were no different than out-of-state Obama
supporters accused of improperly registering and voting here. . . .
Both campaigns' Ohio spokesmen -- Paul Lindsay for McCain and Isaac
Baker for Obama -- are among the out-of-staters who've registered
in Ohio.
State law defines residency as a fixed habitation "to which,
whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of
returning." But the statute also says: "A person shall not be
considered to have gained a residence in any county of this state
into which the person comes for temporary purposes only, without
the intention of making such county the permanent place of abode."
References
1.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/22/copy/DEMS_STRIKE_BACK.ART_ART_10-22-08_A1_2JBLUBM.html?sid=101
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
